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Thread: Arizona Capital Punishment History

  1. #1
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Arizona Capital Punishment History

    Arizona executions, from hanging to gas to lethal injection

    The execution of an Arizona inmate on Tuesday evening came after a brief battle in federal court over concerns that a drug used in the lethal injection might not be up to snuff, possibly causing convicted murderer Jeffrey Landrigan to suffer a cruel death.

    Such concerns were why Arizona voters adopted lethal injection in the first place, in 1992. It happened after the gas-chamber execution of Donald Eugene Harding left witnesses shaken, including one television-news anchor who called it barbaric.

    Harding's execution in April 1992 was the first in Arizona in 29 years.

    Harding wanted to go quickly, according to witness accounts. He appeared to inhale deeply, breathing in the gas. He also defiantly raised his middle fingers in a final salute.

    But Harding did not go quickly. His body convulsed, witnesses said, and he gasped and choked for 10 minutes.

    Media representatives who witnessed the event held a news conference to describe what they saw. Cameron Harper, then a news anchor at Channel 3 (KTVK-TV), said dogs were put to death more humanely than Harding was. He was not alone in his description of the execution, or in decrying it. But his platform as an anchorman gave his words added weight.

    A reporter for The Arizona Republic said Harding experienced "violent trembling" at the beginning of the execution. A Tucson newspaper reporter said Harding's body "turned a bright red, almost purple, as he clenched and convulsed in obvious pain."

    Ralph Fowler, Harding's minister and witness to the execution, described it as "surreal or nightmarish."

    "The question we must ask ourselves is, 'Are we looking for justice, or are we looking for vengeance?' " he said.

    Of course, that was the question Arizona had asked decades before, when it made lethal gas the method of execution, replacing the noose.

    The execution that prompted that change was the hanging of Eva Dugan, the only woman to receive the death penalty in Arizona. Dugan, who had murdered a rancher, faced the gallows at the State Prison in Florence in February 1930. She told the guards leading her to the noose to not hold her so tightly. She didn't want people to think she was afraid to meet her fate.

    The trap door was released, Dugan plunged through it and the rope snapped off her head, which rolled into a corner.

    A horrified public demanded a change. By 1934, Arizona abandoned the gallows in favor of the gas chamber.

    Fifty-six years later, Harding's execution prompted the state to change its method again.

    The outcry over Harding's death brought renewed interest in a bill that had been introduced in the Legislature to change the method of execution to lethal injection. Within weeks, the measure had cleared the Legislature and was sent to the November 1992 ballot for approval. It passed by a large margin.

    The first man to face lethal injection was John George Brewer in March 1993. A Republic reporter who witnessed the execution described it as "eerily efficient."

    http://www.azcentral.com/travel/arti...injection.html

  2. #2
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Death sentence has deep roots in Arizona

    The death sentence and methods of executing criminals have a deep-rooted history in Arizona, going back two years before Arizona became a state in 1912.

    In fact, the Pinal County Historical Museum, 715 S. Main St., Florence, houses artifacts of the state’s death row and execution history — a portion of the museum that could be viewed as either horror or history, depending on your point of view.

    The death row history exhibit, which has been in existence for 40 years, features all of the nooses used in the 28 hangings between 1910 and 1931, a customized double-chair built for the two brothers who were the first to die in the Death House’s gas chamber by lethal gas in 1934, and the trap door to the gallows where bodies were dropped after hangings to ensure their death.

    Chris Reid, a historian at the museum for the last 12 years, said when people see the death row history, they have mixed reactions.

    “Some people view it as gruesome, some people view it as justice or out of curiosity,” Reid said. “It just depends on what your view on the death penalty is. It’s part of our town’s history.”

    Arizona never has used the electric chair since it began executing criminals in 1910, but has used three execution methods over the last century — death by hanging, lethal gas and since 1993, death by lethal injection.

    Arizona voters approved death by lethal injection as a means of execution in the November 1992 general election. Since death by lethal injection was approved, inmates who committed crimes prior to 1992 and sentenced to death may choose execution by lethal gas or lethal injection, according to information from the Department of Corrections.

    For 30 years, from 1962 to 1992, there were no executions in Arizona, partially during a time the U.S. Supreme Court implemented new procedures for death penalty cases. The court had ruled in 1972 that the death penalty was cruel and unusual punishment and violated 8th Amendment rights, and in 1973, implemented new procedures for death penalty cases.

    http://www.ahwatukee.com/news/valley...d87f26fb3.html

  3. #3
    Weidmann1939
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    Last words and meals of Arizona's Death Row inmates Harding thru Beaty

    http://www.azcentral.com/news/201204...s.html?page=14

  4. #4
    Moderator Bobsicles's Avatar
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    There’s some strange going on with the Arizona Department of Corrections website.

    Earlier it showed that nearly all death row inmates were not on death row anymore and that three had been commuted.

    Then later it was back to normal.

    I don’t know if the website was hacked but someone needs to look into that.
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